IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


Ui|2£    |2.5 
1^    1112.2 


1^  lllllio 


1.8 


1.4 

1.6 

6"     — 

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<^ 


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A 


el 


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7 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


,V4 


i/.A 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiques 


\ 


\ 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  at  bibliographiques 


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the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


D 


D 
D 


D 


D 


Couverture  endommag^e 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pellicul^e 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  gdographiquss  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


I      I    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Re\\6  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

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lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  film6es. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires; 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 


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une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 


D 
D 
D 


v/ 


D 
D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellicul^es 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddcolordes,  tachetdes  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tachees 


D 

EShowthrough/ 
Transparciice 

I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


Quality  in6gale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

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Les  pages  totalement  ou  parti^llement 
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etc.,  ont  6t6  film^es  d  nouveau  de  fagon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


Ce  document  est  film6  au  taux  de  r6du 
10X                            14X 

ction  indiqu6  ci-dessous 
18X                              22X 

26X 

30X 

1 
1 

/ 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

aire 

(  details 
|ues  du 
t  modifier 
iger  une 
)  ftlmage 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


L'exernplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grfice  d  la 
gAn6rosit6  de: 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 

Les  Images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  I'exemplaire  filmd,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


/ 
j6es 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Les  exemplalres  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim^e  sont  film6s  en  commengant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film6s  en  commandant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  ^^>  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  In 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


ire 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  Illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
fllmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  11  est  film6  d  partir 
de  I'angle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


>y  errata 
ed  to 

int 

me  pelure, 

apon  d 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

(-/ 


j;_it£lff-t_;  "  5,  Jii,._  J.i-ij 


THE 


PAGEANT  OF  SAINT   LUSSON, 


SAULT    STE.   MARIE,   1671. 

Sin  SLDUress 

PKUVKUKK    AT 

THE   ANNUAL   COMMENCP]MENT   OE   THE 
UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN, 


3 


Thursday,  June  30,  1892. 


\      !, 


< 


^ 


/ 


\ 


\ 


[1 

By    TUSTIN    WINSOR,  LL.D. 

LIBRARIAN    OP   HARVARD    UN1VKR8ITY.    ^ 


'■^■ 


[l 


ANN   ARBOR,  MICH. : 
PUBLISHED  BY   THE   BOARD  OF   RKOENl'S, 

1892. 


.yX 


%^ 


'•M^-^'-i 


^1 


J' 


#■ 


■^i 


T  II K 


PAGEANT  OF  SAINT   LUSSON, 


SAULT    STE.   MARIE,  107 L 


I  f 


2ln  aiiliresjs 


BEI.IVEUI'I)    AT 


THE   ANNUAL   COMMENCEMENT   OF   THE 
UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN, 


\. 


Thursday,  June  30,  1892. 


By    JUSTIN    WINSOR,  LL.D. 


MIUIAUIAN    OF    IIAUVAUn    UNIVEUSITY. 


ANN   ARBOR,  MICH. : 
PUBLISHED   BY   THE  BOARD  OF   REGENTS. 

1892. 


THE 


PAGEANT    OF    SAINT    LIJSSON, 


1671. 


YX^E  will  lift  the  curtain,  if  you  please,  on  a  wikl 
pageant  in  the  early  history  of  Michigan.  The 
scene  is  at  the  oauli  Ste.  Marie  in  1071.  But  first, 
we  liTUst  needs  understand  the  conditions  which  had 
brought  events  to  such  a  pass  that  a  representative 
of  the  French  king,  just  at  this  tiirie  and  precisely  at 
this  spot,  had  found  it  meet  to  proclaim  the  sovereignty 
of  France  over  a  vast  area  where  France  possesses 
to-tiay  not  a  rood  of  territory. 

The  discovery  of  America,  and  discovery  in  America 
for  over  thrte  centuries,  were  the  pursuit  of  a  chimera. 
The  illusion  which  had  brouglit  Columbus  across  the 
forbidding  waste  of  water  was  the  vision  of  a  short 
water-way  to  Cathay.  By  the  time  he  was  ready  for 
his  fourth  voyage,  it  was  evident  that  what  had  been 
found  was  not  the  historic  land  which  Marco  Polo  had 
described,  with  golden-roofed  cities  and  rivers  spanned 
by  a  hundred  bridges,   but  islands  that  offered  a  bar- 


4  TlIK   TACiEANT  OF   SAINT   LUHSON. 

rier  to  the  ro.'il  India.  Tliroiigli  this  ohstade  the  oov- 
otod  chiimiel  must  I)e  Ibund.  On  his  last  voyage  Co- 
himbiis  had  peeped  into  every  inlet  along-  the  shore 
of  Costa  llica  in  search  of  such  a  passage.  Ten  years 
later,  Balboa  had  seen  from  the  dividing  ridge  of  the 
Isthmus  the  great  expanse  of  the  8outh  Sea;  with  this 
discovery  it  seemed  probable  that  what  we  now  call 
South  America  was  an  independent  continent.  Ma- 
gellan after  another  ten  years  proved  that  it  was. 

Men  now  asked  themselves  if  there  might  not  be 
at  the  north  some  compensating  passage.  The  Span- 
iards had  already  tracked  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  though  they  had  noticed  the  out- 
llow  of  a  great  river,  there  was  no  lure  of  gold  in 
that  direction,  and  they  left  the  secret  of  the  Missis- 
sippi to  be  unfolded  by  the  French  from  the  north  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later. 

Gradually  geographers  learned  to  look  wistfully  to 
the  north,  where  the  English  under  Cabot  had  been 
the  first  to  disclose  what  proved  to  be  a  great  gulf. 
The  Portuguese  followed  in  the  track  of  the  English ; 
but  they  did  not  care  to  pursue  the  hidden  mysteries 
of  the  coast  when  they  found  that  for  the  most  part 
it  lay  beyond  the  papal  line  of  demarcation  which  sep- 
arated their  rights  from  those  of  Spain.  The  French 
ca'-ed  for  no  such  rights  ;  and  they  knew  that  for  the 
fish  they  could  catch  there,  all  Europe  offered  a  mar- 
ket for  one  day  in  three,  on  which  flesh  was  forbidden. 
To  meet  this  holy  demand,  the  hardy  seamen  from  the 


f 


« 


I 

4i 


1S()\. 


TIIK    I'AdKANT   oF   SAINT    MI.SSON. 


)staole  the  cov- 
l.'ist  voyage  Co- 
long  the  shore 
y-e.  Ten  years 
ly;  ridi^e  ol'  tlie 
'.  Sea  ;  with  this 
it  we  now  call 
continent.  Ma- 
that  it  was. 
e  might  not  l)e 
ge.  The  Span- 
•n  shore  ot"  the 
loticed  the  out- 
lure  of  gold  in 
t  of  the  Missis- 
om  the  north  a 

ook  wistfully  to 
Jabot  had  been 
le  a  great  gulf, 
of  the  English  ; 
dden  mysteries 

the  most  part 
ition  which  sep- 
The  French 
2VV  that  for  the 

offered  a  mar- 
1  w^is  forbidden. 

amen  from  the 


Norman  and  Breton  ports,  and  the  IJasques  I'roin  the 
IJay  of  If  ^cay,  increased  yearly  in  numbers  in  the 
waters  contiguous  to  this  northern  gulf,  until  its  won- 
ders and  allurements  had  become  a  tamiliar  story  in 
the  maritime  towns  of  France.  These  adventurous 
fishermen  brought  away  from  this  insular  region  some 
cliarts,  whici.i  in  a  few  cases  have  come  down  to  us. 
Their  hydrographical  surmises  gave  Cartier  the  incen- 
tive to  try  the  hazards  ot"  the  watery  expanse  that  lay 
to  the  west  of  Newfoundland.  As  the  doughtiest  mar- 
iner of  his  day,  Cartier  could  hardly  have  vaulted 
over  the  rail  of  any  one  of  these  returned  fishing 
craft  in  the  harbor  of  St.  Malo,  where  he  lived,  with- 
out having  his  attention  called  in  such  maps  to  the 
inviting  portals  of  this  western  mystery.  From  the 
first  voyage  of  Cartier  in  1534,  France  had  before  her 
nearly  a  hundred  and  forty  years  of  trial,  before  she 
was  satisfied  that  she  could  never  reach  China  by  the 
valley  of   the  St.  Lawi'ence. 

The  story  of  this  interval  is  one  of  pluck  and 
hardihood.  Tlie  adventurer,  the  trader,  and  the  priest 
struggled  for  the  lead  ;  and  now  it  was  one,  and  now 
the  other,  who  fixed  a  trading  post  or  built  a  bark 
chapel  farther  than  before  on  the  way  to  Cathay. 
They  pushed  west  by  the  Ottawa  and  Lake  Nipissing 
to  Georgian  Bay,  and  yearly  the  lusty  woodsmen  led 
back  to  Montreal,  Three  Rivers,  and  Quebec,  a  native 
flotilla  of  fur-hiden  canoes.  They  pushed  on  to  Lake 
Superior,    and   one    adventurous    spirit   had    found    his 


4 


i;  IIIi;    l'A(ii:A.N  I'   OK   SAINT    Ll.'SSOX. 

Wiiy  tli('iu!e  by  stroani  .and  portnji:^  to  Hudson  Hit  v. 
Here  he  discovcivd  that  English  ships  were  drawing 
iiway  the  Indian  trallic  in  peltries  from  the  French 
posts.  Wlien  on  his  return  tins  enterprising  leader 
])roj)()sed  to  the  authorities  at  (Quebec  an  expedition 
hy  sea  to  wrest  this  northern  vantage-ground  from 
their  Knglish  rivals,  he  got  nothing  Ijut  jeers  and 
neirlect.  Tiiis  treatment  sent  him  to  JJoston,  where  he 
found  better  encouragement;  and  forming  a  partner- 
shij)  with  a  Yankee  ski[)i)er,  the  two  ultimately  went 
to  London  ;ind  opened  the  way  to  the  formation  of 
that  great  monopoly,  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  so 
long  to  push  tlu!  fur-companies  of  Canada  in  hardest 
rivalry.  To  tiiwart  such  impending  competition  was 
one  of  the  incentives  which  sent  Saint  Lusson  and 
Perrot  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  at  the  time  we  are 
considerinu'. 

The  exploration  ol'  the  St.  Lawrence  had  begun,  as 
we  have  seen,  with  the  hope  that  it  might  prove  a 
convenient  path  to  India.  The  westward  route  by  the 
Ottawa  had  developed  the  geography  of  the  upper 
parts  of  Lake  LLu'on.  It  had  shown  the  diverging 
ways  by  the  Straits  of  Mackinac  and  by  the  Sault. 
The  priest  had  foHowed  the  trader.  The  Jesuits  had 
made  the  circuit  of  Lake  Superior,  and  had  produced 
a  marvellously  accurate  map  of  that  water,  making  it 
evident  that  the  way  to  India  could  no  longer  be 
searched  for  in  that  direction.  Thus  the  limits  of  dis- 
covery thitherward  must  be  emphasized   by  an  act  of 


n 


il'SMOX. 


TMK    I'ACK.WT   OF    SAINT    M'SSOX. 


to  lliulsou  IJay. 
i[)s   were   drawing 

from  tlio  Frencli 
nterprisiuii;  leader 
ec  an  expedition 
tage-ground  from 
ig  but  jeers  and 
i  JJoston,  where  lie 
arming  a  partner- 
0  ultimately  went 

the  formation  of 
Bay  Company,  so 
Janada  in  hardest 
;  competition  was 
Saint    Lusson    and 

the    time  we  are 

ce  had  begun,  as 
it  might  prove  a 
ivard  route  by  the 
hy  of  the  upper 
tvn  the  divery:in<»: 
nd    by   the   Sault. 

The  Jesuits  had 
md  had  produced 

water,  making  it 
dd    no    longer   be 

the  limits  of  dis- 
ized   by  an  act  of 


possession,  rendere<l  all  the  mure  fit  ting  by  tiic  fact 
that  Joliet  had  but  recently  opened  m  new  v*)\\\o  by 
Lake  Erie  and  the  St.  Cluir  Iviver,  which  proved  liiat 
large  vessels  built  al)0ve  the  Ftilis  ol'  Xijigar;i  could 
carry  on  commerce  with  the  upper  lakes. 

Ever  since  the  trader  Nicolet  had  ])us1um1  up  (Jreen 
Bay  and  the  Fox  River,  five  ami  lliirty  ycais  bclbre, 
and  had  told  to  the  dying  Cliamplaiu  a  stoiy  of  great 
waters  that  he  had  onlv  failed  to  rencii.  his  -iunnises 
had  been  undergoing  modilication  under  the  later  re- 
ports of  Grosseilliers,  Allouez,  and  Mar([uette,  till  it 
becam(3  evident  that  the  Indian  stories  of  vast  waters 
beyond  the  lakes  did  not  relei  to  a  great  sea,  but  to 
a  mighty  river.  It  was  no  longer  doubtful  that  this 
potent  stream  could  be  reached  by  portages  ol'  mod- 
erate extent  from  Lake  Superior  and  Green  Bay ;  and 
there  were  suspicions  of  other  transits  near  the  head 
of  Lake  Michigan.  As  yet  no  one  could  say  that  the 
soutliern  shore  of  P]rie  would  not  yield  other  passages; 
and  it  is  possible  that  La  Salle  had  already  passed  to 
the  Ohio,  and  had  believed  it  the  way  to  this  mag- 
nified river.  It  is  certain  that  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
in  western  New  York  had  crossed  the  divide,  ami  had 
actually  wandered  along  the  northeastern  slope  of  t!io 
great  Mississippi  valley.  At  the  site  of  the  modern 
Ashland,  on  Lake  Superior,  Allouez  and  Manpiette 
had  in  turn  endeavored  to  interpret  the  accounts  of 
the  great  river  which  had  reached  them  from  fugitive 
Huron   and   wandering   Sioux  ;    but   they    had    differed 


8 


THE   PAGEANT  OF   SAINT   LTTSSON. 


in  their  conclusions.  One  liad  fancied  the  inscrutable 
river  to  How  southwest  into  the  Gulf  of  California  ; 
and  the  other  hoped  in  time  to  follow  it  to  the  Sea 
of  Virginia,  —  somewhere  on  the  seaboard  of  our  pres- 
ent Southern  Atlantic  States.  Thus  it  was  that  this 
undeveloped  geography  towards  the  south  suggested 
possible  contact  witli  either  Spaniard  or  English.  This 
gave  another  reason  for  the  ceremony  we  are  soon  to 
consider. 

Towards  the  north  it  was  evident  the  chances  of  an 
outlet  to  salt  water  were  no  better.  The  Snguenay 
had  been  tried  in  vain.  No  one  had  believed  such 
an  egress  possible  by  the  Ottawa  since  the  time  when 
Champlain  was  deceived  by  the  mendacity  of  Vignan* 
Pere  and  Grosseilliers  had  failed  to  find  a  practicable 
northern  route  from  Lake  Superior. 

Such  had  been  the  outcome,  as  has  been  said,  of 
nearly  a  hundred  and  forty  years  of  persistent  effort, 
when  the  vigilant,  keen,  aspiring  mind  of  the  Inten- 
dant  Tnlon  —  the  siblest  administrator  that  France 
ever  sent  to  Canada  —  grasped  the  situation.  For 
thirty-five  years  the  monitions  of  Nicolet  had  wsiited 
for  such  a  fertile  mind.  It  was  clear  to  Talon's  con- 
ceptions that  the  great  valley  of  the  lakes  was  sure 
to  France,  through  the  possession  of  its  natural  water- 
ways. Nature  had  rendered  easily  accessible,  by  a 
system  of  low  dividing  ridges,  the  vast  adjacent  val- 
leys towards  the  north  and  the  south,  and  Talon  had 
the  ambition  to  occupy   them.     It    mattered   little  to 


LTJSSON. 

ied  the  inscrutable 
jriilf  of  California  ; 
illow  it  to  the  Sea 
iboard  of  our  pres- 
is  it  was  that  this 
le  south  suggested 
d  or  English.  This 
my  we  are  soon  to 

,  the  chances  of  an 
3r.  The  Saguenay 
had  believed  such 
nee  the  time  when 
mdacity  of  Vignan. 
find  a  practicable 

has  been  said,  of 
3f  persistent  effort, 
nind  of  the  Inten- 
ator    that    France 
;ie    situation.     For 
Micolet  had  waited 
ar  to  Talon's  con- 
he  lakes  was  sure 
its  natural  water- 
T    accessible,    by    a 
vast  adjacent  val- 
th,  and  Talon  had 
mattered    little   to 


THE   PAGEANT   OF   SAINT   LUSSON. 


9 


4 


him  if  the  English  were  on  Hudson  Bay,  provided  he 
could  secure  the  upper  waters  of  its  tributaries.  It 
mattered  little  to  him  if  the  great  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi stretched  to  Spanish  settlements  on  the  Pacific, 
or  to  English  colonies  on  the  Atlantic,  if  he  could  be 
the  first  to  carry  tho  French  lilies  from  its  upper 
reaches  to  the  sea. 

In  this  frame  of  mind  Talon  organized  the  expedi- 
tion whose  crowning  act  may  interest  us  to-day.  To 
give  dignity  to  the  movement  he  selected  a  gentleman 
to  lead  it,  Dauinont  de  Saint  Lusson  ;  but  there  was 
joined  with  him  the  most  capable  master  of  woodcraft 
in  all  New  France,  Nicholas  Perrot,  an  expert  talker 
in  the  Indian  tongues.  He  could  read  as  well  as  talk, 
which  few  of  his  class  could  do. 

It  was  in  the  latter  half  of  1670  that  Saint  Lusson 
with  his  little  party  left  Quebec.  They  wintered  at 
the  Manatoulin  islands.  Here  during  the  weary  weeks 
their  plans  were  set  in  order,  so  that  when  the  spring 
opened,  messengers  were  ready  to  start  for  the  northern 
tribes,  bearing  invitations  to  attend  in  the  early  sum- 
mer at  the  Sault,  for  a  converse  with  the  whites. 
These  movements  started,  Perrot  himself  set  out  for 
Green  Bay.  His  mission  was  to  ingratiate  himself  with 
the  tribes  of  that  region,  and  to  induce  them  to  join 
their  northern  kindred  in  the  great  convocation.  By 
the  last  of  April,  1671,  Perrot  had  assembled  his  Indian 
friends,  representing  all  the  tribes  of  the  Green  Bay  coun- 
try, and  an  immense  flotilla  of  canoes  moved  onward 

2 


10 


THE   PAGEANT   OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


towards  the  Saiilt.  On  the  5th  of  May  they  reached 
their  destination,  and  found  that  Saint  Lnsson  with  his 
little  party  of  Frenchmen  had  already  arrived.  The 
messengers  who  had  been  sent  to  the  boreal  parts  had 
done  their  work,  and  gradually  tribe  after  tribe  came 
upon  the  scene.  Not  only  these,  but  the  opening 
sunnner  had  brought  other  tribes,  whom  the  messengers 
had  not  reached,  drawn  hither  to  profit  by  the  fishing 
season.  Scattered  around  in  little  colonies  of  kinship, 
the  lodges  of  the  savages  dotted  the  ground.  The 
warriois  s(|uatted  in  groups  along  the  sloping  ground, 
and  passing  hither  and  thither  among  them  went  the 
welcoming  whites,  —  placeman,  priest,  and  trader,  — 
losing  no  occasion  to  impress  upon  all,  the  dignity  of 
their  coming  purpose  and  the  masterful  sovereignty 
of  the  French  king. 

There  was  one  among  the  four  or  five  black  robes, 
who  made  part  of  the  attending  whites,  who  was  con- 
spicuous for  his  hoary  years,  —  a  man  now  much  be- 
yond his  threescore  and  ten,  but  still  undaunted  at 
the  hardships  of  the  wilderness.  One  would  like  to 
take  him  aside  and  listen  to  the  thoughts  already 
suggested  to  him  by  the  coming  ceremonial.  Let  us 
in  our  iuiagination  sit  here  beneath  this  tree,  scattering 
its  scent  of  early  summer,  and  listen  to  the  story  which 
we  may  be  permitted  to  draw  from  the  lips  of  Gabriel 
Dreuillettes. 

A  score  of  years  had  passed  since  he  was  ministering 
to  the  Abenakis  among  the  sources  of  the  Kennebec.    At 


r 


.USSON. 


THE   PAGEANT   OF   SAINT   LUSSON. 


11 


Vlay  they  reached 
t  Liisson  with  his 
idy  arrived.  'The 
8  boreal  parts  had 
)  after  tribe  came 
but  the  opening 
3in  the  messengers 
jfit  by  the  fishing 
olonies  of  kinship, 
the  ground.  The 
le  sloping  ground, 
nu"  tliem  went  the 
st,  and  trader,  — 
dl,  the  dignity  of 
terful  sovereignty 

L'  five  black  robes, 
tes,  who  was  con- 
an  now  much  be- 
till  undaunted  at 
hie  would  like  to 
thoughts  already 
remonial.  Let  us 
his  tree,  scattering 
to  the  story  which 
he  lips  of  Gabriel 

le  was  ministering 
the  Kennebec.    At 


that  time  rumors  were  constantly  reaching  him  of  the 
savage  inroads  whicli  the  Iroquois  were  making  along 
the  St.  Lawrence,  so  that  even  the  shores  of  Hudson 
l]ay,  whither  the  fugitive  Montagnais  had  fled,  had 
not  placed  these  frightened  allies  of  the  French  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  implacable  confederates.  All  these 
years  of  crouching  suspense  throughout  Canada  were 
largely  the  result  of  Champlain's  reckless  provocations 
of  the  Mohawks  forty  years  before  ;  and  the  inevitable 
dooming  of  the  Hurons  followed.  The  Iroquois  fell 
upon  the  Huron  villages  and  i-elentlessly  swept  away 
savage  and  Jesuit.  In  the  despair  whicli  followed,  the 
conscious  Abenakis  felt  that  their  turn  would  come  next; 
and  the  French  in  Quebec  knew  not  where  to  look  for 
succor  but  to  the  nei<!;hborinu:  New  Enij-land. 

It  marks  the  supineness  whicli  settled  upon  the 
Canadians  at  this  time  that  they  sought  to  enlist  the 
English  assistance,  not  only  by  offering  reciprocity  of 
trade,  but  also  by  yielding  to  New  England's  preten- 
sions in  respect  to  territorial  bounds.  There  liad  been 
little  of  this  self-restraint  when  Dreuillettes  had  been 
first  sent  to  the  Abenakis;  for  he  had  been  directed  not 
only  to  convert  them,  but  to  make  sure  of  their  friend- 
ship in  case  of  outbreak  with  the  English,  —  at  least, 
such  is  the  admission  of  Charlevoix. 

Whether  the  territory  of  the  Abenakis  was  properly 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  French  or  that  of  Ply- 
moutli,  which  had  chartered  rights  on  the  Kennebec, 
depended  on   the  limits  of  Acadia;  and  this  was  then 


> 


I'' 


A 


12 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


and  for  a  long  time  afterwarclsj  in  dispute  between 
the  two  Crowns. 

All  such  rival  claims  were  for  the  instant  forgotten 
when  the  governor  in  Quebec  drew  up  a  proposal  for 
alliance,  and  pressed  the  right  of  the  Abenakis  to  Eng- 
lish protection,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  really 
the  wards  of  the  Plymouth  colony.  With  such  an 
argument  outlined  by  his  superior,  Dreuillettes  was 
ordered  to  leave  his  catechumens  and  make  his  way 
to  Boston.  Descending  the  Kennebec,  and  coming  to 
the  trading-post  which  the  Plymouth  people  maintained 
there,  near  the  site  of  the  modern  Augusta,  the  priest 
encountered  the  hearty,  whole-souled  commander  of 
the  post,  a  man  of  good  English  gentry  blood,  John 
Winslow ,  and  representnig  the  authority  of  that  colony. 
Dreuillettes  laid  his  purpose  before  him.  Winslow,  if 
we  may  believe  the  Jesuit's  own  narrative,  was  eager 
to  help  on  an  alliance ;  and  the  two  men  made  the  most 
of  the  promptings  of  that  good  fellowship  sprung  from 
a  jovial  intercourse  which  neither  was  loath  to  share. 
Down  the  Kennebec  they  went,  and  by  water  along  the 
coast,  till  they  found  it  best  to  seek  the  shore  and  travel 
by  land.  It  was  a  drear  December  evening  when  the 
companions  were  rowed  across  to  the  northern  point 
of  the  Boston  peninsula. 

Ixere  the  priest  was  received  with  the  consideration 
due  to  his  ambassodorial  character.  The  Puritan  stat- 
utes that  placed  a  Jesuit  beyond  the  pale  of  protection 
were  put   in   abeyance.     A  notable   merchant  of  the 


JSSON. 


THE  PAGEANT  OF   SAINT  LUSSON. 


10 
o 


dispute   between 

instant  forgotten 
up  a  proposal  for 
Abenakis  to  Eng- 
they  were  really 
With   such   an 
Dreuillettes   was 
d  make  his  way 
3,  and  coming  to 
3eople  maintained 
igusta,  the  priest 
d   commander   of 
iutry  blood,  John 
ty  of  that  colony, 
lim.     Winslow,  if 
Tative,  was  eager 
en  made  the  most 
ship  sprung  from 
IS  loath  to  share. 
y  water  along  the 
Q  shore  and  tra^^el 
vening  when  the 
le  northern  point 

the  consideration 

The  Puritan  stat- 

pale  of  protection 

merchant  of  the 


town  —  a  man  who  came  as  near  being  a  godless  cos- 
mopolitan as  the  Puritan  habits  would  permit  — 
opened  his  house  to  the  priest  and  gave  him  a  key 
to  a  chamber  where  he  could  undisturbed  arrange  his 
holy  vessels  and  say  his  masses. 

The  next  day  Dreuillettes  was  conducted  by  Winslow 
to  Governor  Dudley.  Stern  Puiitan  as  the  chief  magis- 
trate  was,  he  had  in  his  younger  days  fought  under 
Henry  of  Navarre.  Dreuillettes  thought  the  sound  of 
the  Gallic  tongue  might  warm  the  governor  to  some- 
thing more  than  stately  courtesy ;  but  the  grim  sur- 
roundings had  little  in  accord  with  the  sunny  France  of 
the  Puritan's  youth,  and  the  magistrate  insisted  upon 
the  ungracious  intervention  of  an  interpreter. 

So  weighty  a  question  as  was  propounded,  the  am- 
bassador was  made  to  understand,  must  be  referred  to 
the  consideration  of  tlie  commissioners  of  the  United 
Colonies.  The  ambassador  was  further  commended  to 
the  government  at  Plymouth,  meanwhile,  since  that  col- 
ony was  much  more  intimately  concerned  than  the  Bay 
Colony  with  the  welfare  of  the  Abenakis.  So  Winslow 
passed  on  with  Dreuillettes  to  Plymouth ;  and  the  priest 
tells  us  how  courteous  was  the  reception  which  the  Pil- 
grims accorded  to  him. 

It  is  among  the  most  striking  contrasts  in  American 
history  to  find  this  Jesuit  priest  at  Plymouth  liock, 
holding  converse  with  the  Pilgrim  magistrates.  The 
account  which  he  has  left  to  us  of  this  visit  is  scant, 
but  it  includes  a  notice  of  the  dinner  which  Governor 


14 


THE   PAGEANT  OF   SAINT   LUSSON. 


fVJ 


Bradford  gave  liini  on  a  Friday,  when,  out  of  rcispect 
to  his  guest's  religion,  the  table  was  set  with  fish  alone. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whom  Bradford  sum- 
moned to  share  with  him  and  his  visitor  this  frugal 
repast  in  that  December  day  of  1G50.  Whom  could 
he  have  selected  to  discuss  with  him  the  momentous 
question  which  Dreuillettes  had  proposed?  Bradford 
could  hardly  have  failed  to  send  across  tlie  bav  to  the 
Duxbuiy  shore  to  sunnnon  that  chief  of  h's  counsel- 
lors when  matters  of  war  were  in  question,  the  fiery 
little  Pilgrim  soldier,  Myles  Standish.  It  does  no  vio- 
lence to  probability  to  imagine  this  group,  after  the 
governor's  hospitable  table  had  been  left,  strolling  up 
the  path  that  led  directly  from  the  governor's  house 
to  the  Burial  Hill  that  overtopped  the  village.  Here, 
on  the  bulwarks  of  the  timber  fort  which  crowned 
the  eminence,  we  c'ln  picture  theiu  as  they  continued 
their  talk. 

It  was  a  suggestive  knot  of  men  indeed.  Bradford 
steadily,  from  the  day  when  he  signed  the  compact 
of  self-government  in  the  cabin  of  the  "Mayflower," 
had  grown  gray  in  the  service  of  the  little  colony ; 
and  now  that  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts  was  dead, 
there  was  no  one  in  New  England  territory  more  rev- 
erenced than  he,  —  a  grave,  learned  man,  and  one  who 
knew  the  traditions  and  purposes  of  the  Pilgrim  Church 
from  its  earliest  days  in  the  Yorkshire  fields.  Let  us 
behold  him  here  upon  the  ramparted  roof  of  the  fort, 
sweeping  his  hand  over  the  country  which  lay  spread 


LUSSON. 


THE   PAGEAIVT   OF   SAINT   LUSSON. 


15 


lien,  out  of  respect 
set  with  fish  alone, 
hoin  Bradford  suin- 
1  visitor  this  frugal 
650.  Whom  could 
iiin  the  momentous 
loposed?  Bradford 
ross  the  hay  to  the 
lief  of  his  counsel- 
question,  the  fiery 
h.  It  does  no  vio- 
is  group,  after  the 
3n  left,  strolling  up 
le  governor's  house 
the  village.  Here, 
brt  whioli  crowned 
as  they  continued 

I  indeed.     Bradford 

>igned   the  compact 

the  "Mayiiower," 

^  the   little   colonv ; 

chusetts   was   dead, 

territory  more  rev- 

1  man,  and  one  who 

the  Pilgriui  Church 

hire  fields.     Let  us 

ed  roof  of  the  fort, 

y  which  lay  spread 


out  honeath,  wrapped  in  the  winter's  snow.  lie  could 
have  impressed  upon  the  Jesuit  mind  how  the  little 
colony  luid  succeeded  in  living  at  peace  with  the  neigh- 
boring savages.  "  On  yonder  hill,"  he  could  say,  ''  and 
before  we  had  been  here  many  weeks,  we  met  the 
sachem  of  this  region;  and  then  and  there,  without  a 
hostile  weapon  in  our  hands,  we  entered  upon  a  pact 
of  fellowship  which  neither  of  us  have  broken  from 
that  day  to  this,  now  going  on  thirty  years." 

The  Jesuit  might  well  reply:  "Our  people  had 
scarcely  seated  themselves  in  Quebec  when  we  slew 
the  Iroquois ;  and  for  fourscore  years  we  have  suffered 
from  their  bloody  reprisals ;  and  that  we  nuiy  have 
no  more  of  them,  I  have  come  to  ask  your  help." 

The  governor  shook  his  head.  "The  Iroquois  have 
never  wronged  us :  why  should  we  wrong  them  ?  We 
cannot  fight,  unless  we  have  reason  for  it;"  and  he 
turned  his  eyes  upon  Myles  Standish. 

One  would  like  to  know,  as  the  Jesuit's  gaze  fol- 
lowed that  of  Bradford,  and  the  eyes  of  the  priest  met 
those  of  that  redoubtable  soldier,  if  there  was  any 
token  of  sympathy  between  them  that  the  governor 
did  or  did  not  comprehend.  Stand isli  in  his  early  life, 
fighting  as  a  soldier  of  fortune  in  the  Low  Countries, 
had  not  always  marshalled  reasons  for  wielding  his 
sword  ;  aud  it  was  not  unwittingly  that  Ih-adford  now 
turned  his  glance  upon  his  associate.  As  a  scion  of  a 
Catholic  family  in  Lancashire,  Standish  had  never 
renounced,  so  far  as  any  one    has  been  able   to  dis- 


16 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


cover,  the  religion  that  blessed  his  cradle.  So  far  also 
as  can  be  learned,  his  associates  in  Plymouth  had  never 
bound  him  to  their  own  covenant  of  faith.  He  and 
they  had  got  on  together  throngh  the  nati  ral  depen- 
dence which  was  placed  on  him  as  the  captain  of 
their  little  host  and  as  a  counsellor  in  their  public 
affairs.  If  there  was  any  betrayal  by  Standish  of  an 
inherited  faith,  the  Jesuit  does  not  record  it.  As  the 
two  looked  across  the  bay  to  that  eminence  crowned 
to-day  by  the  statue  of  this  Pilgrim  soldier,  the  priest 
could  but  wonder  at  that  confidence  ''n  the  pact  with 
Massasoit  which  gave  to  Standish's  home,  so  far  remote 
from  the  settlements,  a  security  that  had  never  been 
possible  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Hardly  a  less  instructive  scene  was  that  a  few  days 
after,  when  Dreuillettes,  returning  to  Boston,  stopped 
for  the  night  at  the  house  of  the  Apostle  Eliot.  What 
visions  of  the  savage  pupils,  gathered  about  the  hearth 
of  Eliot,  must  have  come  back  to  him  over  the  gulf 
of  twenty  years,  sitting  no>v,  as  we  have  fancied,  amid 
this  dusky  throng  congregated  at  the  Sault!  That 
Protestant  guide  to  the  ]\.  assachusetts  Indians  was  at 
the  time  of  Dreuillettes'  visit  ory-anizintj:  his  native 
church  at  Natick ;  and  v*e  can  easily  picture  the  two 
missionaries  placing  their  experiences  in  comparison, 
and  discussing  the  ways  of  reaching  the  savage  con- 
sciousness. Eliot  might  have  shown  to  his  guest  his 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  Indian  speech, 
already  begun.     Some  years  before  this  visit  was  re- 


LUSSON. 


THE  i'A(;kant  of  saint  litssox. 


17 


Tadle.  So  far  also 
ymoutli  had  never 
of  faith.  lie  and 
he  natiTal  depen- 
is  the  captain  of 
r  in  their  public 
)y  Stand ish  of  an 
record  it.  As  the 
jminence  crowned 
soldier,  the  priest 
!  '"n  the  pact  with 
nuQ.  so  far  remote 
,t  had  never  been 

IS  that  a  few  days 
o  Boston,  stopped 
Dstle  Eliot.  What 
d  about  the  hearth 
lim  over  the  gulf 
lave  fancied,  amid 
the  Sault!  That 
ts  Indians  was  at 
nizing  his  native 
^  picture  the  two 
;s  in  comparison, 
;  the  savage  con- 
to  his  guest  his 
le  Indian  speech, 
this  visit  was  re- 


called, the  Natick  Bibie  iuid  alread}-  been  put  in  type  by 
an  Indian  convert  under  the  shadow  of  Harvard  College. 
One  can  easily  see,  from  tue  Jesuit's  account  of  this 
intercourse,  thiit  it  had  raised  feelings  of  respect,  and 
perhaps  even  of  affection,  between  the  Catholic  and  the 
Protestant.  Dreuillettes  mentions  how  Eliot  urged 
him  to  pass  the  winter  with  him ;  but  the  Jesuit  could 
get  as  yet  no  definite  reply  from  the  commissioners  of 
the  United  Colonies,  and  hastened  back  to  Quebec.  He 
repeated  his  visit  the  next  summer,  when  he  met  these 
higher  authorities   at  their  gathering  in  Hartford. 

Durintr  these  two  visits,  covering  the  length  and 
breadth  of  New  England,  this  Jesuit  ambassador,  com- 
ing, not  as  a  woodpecker  that  looketh  for  the  rot,  had 
not  failed,  as  he  tells  us,  to  remark  upon  the  homely 
thrift  and  vitality  of  a  colonial  life  so  different  from 
what  he  had  known  in  Canada.  He  found  bridges  to 
cross  streams.  He  saw  forges  blazing  where  the  deft 
craftsman  worked  the  iron  of  the  bogs.  He  heard  the 
clatter  of  saw-mills.  He  noted  the  Yorkshire  immi- 
grant weaving  cotton  which  had  been  brought  from 
Barbadoes.  He  listened  everywhere  to  the  sfvhh  of  a 
scythe  which  a  New  England  farmer  had  invented. 
He  quaffed  along  the  seaboard,  wherever  there  was  a 
rope-walk,  the  healing  odor  of  the  tar  which  their  brig- 
antines  had  brought  from  other  coasts.  He  saw  sheep 
dotting  the  hill-side,  and  cattle  everywhere  browsing 
in  the  pastures.  Colts  drooped  their  heads  over  the 
fences  as  he  passed,  and  the  farmer  told  him  that  the 


18 


THE   lAUKANT  OF   SAINT    LTISSON. 


m 


next  year  he  should  send  them  to  the  West  Indies  in 
payment  for  molasses.  The  merchants  of  Boston  ex- 
plained their  ventures  to  St.  Kitts,  Fayal,  and  Bill)oa. 
He  found  that  strangers  were  admitted  to  the  henefits 
of  trade,  and  the  exclusiveness  of  the  Puritan  rule  was 
already  rek  .md  giving  way  to  broader  sympathies. 

He  saw  the  new  pine-tree  shillings,  coined  in  defiance 
of  the  royal  prerogative,  —  one  of  the  signs  of  that 
New  England  independence,  which  was  always  wary. 
The  colonial  politicians  told  him  how  a  stray  sow, 
reminding  him  of  the  wolf  that  suckled  the  infant 
Rome,  had  started  a  warm  discussion,  which  ended,  as 
befitted  their  English  blood,  in  a  stubborn  adherence 
to  a  dual  chamber  in  their  legislative  concerns.  He 
saw  that  in  not  forgetting  the  warning  of  Moses  to 
divide  their  soil  among  as  great  a  number  of  citizens 
as  was  possible,  they  had  established  their  state  upon 
a  foundation  that  seigneuries  could  not  supply. 

Such  were  the  strange,  suggestive  lessons  of  the  life 
to  which  he  was  not  used.  He  recalled  what  he  had 
seen  to  the  authorities  at  Quebec  on  his  return.  He 
must  have  dwelt  upon  them  by  the  aid  of  a  still  vivid 
memory,  as  we  observe  him  now  at  the  Sault.  He 
was,  so  far  as  we  can  discover,  the  only  one  of  that 
little  band  of  Frenchmen,  gathered  about  Saint  Lusson, 
who  knew  enough  of  these  English,  whom  they  looked 
forward  to  encounter,  to  divine  the  outcome  of  that 
trial  of  endurance  and  contention  which  they  planned 
on  the  morrow  to  invite.     Saint  Lusson  knew  that  to 


UI.SSON. 


THE   PAGEANT  OP  SAINT  LILSSON. 


10 


the  West  Indies  in 
iintH  of  Boston  cx- 

Fayal,  and  Bilhoa. 
ted  to  tlie  benefits 
lie  Puritan  rule  was 
arcade r  sympathies. 

coined  in  defiance 

tlie  signs  of  that 

was  always  wary, 
how  a  stray  sow, 
suckled  the  infant 
)n,  which  ended,  as 
tubborn  adherence 
tive  concerns.  He 
mmg  of  Moses  to 
number  of  citizens 
d  their  state  upon 

not  supply, 
e  lessons  of  the  life 
jailed  what  he  had 
)n  his  return.     He 

aid  of  a  still  vivid 
at  the  Sault.  He 
J  only  one  of  that 
ibout  Saint  Lusson, 
whom  they  looked 
3  outcome  of  that 
hich  they  planned 
sson  knew  that  to 


make  good  the  territorial  pretensions  of  his  country- 
men involved  the  occupation  of  the  great  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  wherein  they  could  hardly  hope  to 
avoid  a  conflict,  sooner  or  later,  with  these  sauie 
English. 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the  condition  of  that 
English  race  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  in  this  year 
of  grace  1671,  twenty  years  after  Dreuillettes  had 
been  among  them  in  New  England.  The  contrast  to 
New  France  was  even  greater  than  the  Jesuit  had  found 
it.  Massachusetts  had  just  emerged  triumphant  from 
an  inquisitorial  contest  with  the  Home  Government,  and 
she  had  given  her  perverted  charter  a  new  life.  Con- 
necticut had  become  consolidated  with  New  Haven, 
under  a  charter  yet  to  be  heard  of  in  the  northwest. 
While  the  fur-trade  was  of  importance  in  Maine  and 
the  Connecticut  valley,  it  contributed  but  a  small  share 
to  the  prosperity  of  the  people.  The  streams  that  in 
Canada  made  canoe-paths  in  the  search  for  peltries 
thwarted  the  thrift  of  the  ploughman ;  but  the  streams 
in  New  England,  by  furnishing  power,  ii  ade  manufac- 
tures the  handmaid  of  agriculture.  If  the  New  Eng- 
lander  failed  in  woodcraft,  as  compared  with  the  Cana- 
dian, he  had  no  superior  on  the  sea.  There  is  nothing 
like  a  life  on  the  North  Atlantic  to  try  the  intrepidity 
of  a  sailor.  The  New  Englander  had  learned  to  build 
as  fine  vessels  as  floated.  They  bore  the  English  flag 
everywhere,  to  distances  far  greater  than  the  lilies  of 
France  had  been  borne  along  the  lakes.     These  ships 


20 


TIIK   I'ACKANT  OF   SAINT   UISSON. 


carried  to  England  tho  finest  uiiiHts  in  tlie  world  for 
the  equipment  of  the  royal  navy.  Boston,  which  in 
Dreuillettew'  time  engrossed  almost  all  the  carrying 
trade  of  New  England,  now  shared  it  with  port  after 
port  along  the  marvellously  indented  coast.  They  fed 
Virginia  and  the  Southern  colonies  out  of  a  glaciated 
soil  that  in  these  later  days,  in  competition  with  the 
West,  is  checkered  with  abandoned  fjirms.  They  carried 
food  to  the  fishing  fleet  of  all  nations  which  frequented 
the  Grand  Banks.  They  took  cargoes  of  pipe-staves 
to  every  wine-producing  country  of  the  world.  They 
carried  wool  to  Bordeaux,  and  brought  home  the  French 
linens.  They  went  for  sugar  to  the  West  Indies,  and 
sent  rum  to  Guinea  and  Madagascar.  Boston,  with  her 
twenty-live  hundred  houses,  had  grown  to  be  the  finest 
town  in  North  America. 

Along  the  line  of  the  Mohawk  and  the  Hudson  there 
was  a  fusion  of  English  and  Dutch  that  promised  well, 
and  nearer  Manhattan,  the  Huguenot  blood,  which  they 
scorned  in  Quebec,  was  already  beginning  to  add  a  fine 
fibre  to  the  race.  This  amalgamated  folk  in  New  York 
aflbrded  the  only  considerable  rivals  in  the  fur-trade 
which  the  French  had  yet  found  south  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. Farther  south  on  the  Jersey  shore  an  infusion 
of  New  England  blood  was  developing  agriculture  and 
moulding  the  laws.  On  the  Chesapeake  and  by  the 
tide-water  of  Virginia  there  was  quite  a  different  type 
of  Englishman,  mixed  with  Scotch  and  German.  They 
knew  little  of  commerce.     Boston  ships  took  away  their 


LIISSON. 

in    the  world   for 

Bo.ston,  which   in 

all    the   carryin<^ 

it  with  port  alter 

I  coast.     They  fed 

out  of  a  glaciated 

npetition  with  the 

rnis.    They  carried 

i  which  frequented 

;oes  of  pipe-staves 

the  world.     They 

it  home  the  French 

e  West  Indies,  and 

Boston,  with  her 

vvn  to  be  the  finest 

I  the  Hudson  there 
hat  promised  well, 

blood,  which  they 
nning  to  add  a  fine 
I  folk  in  New  York 
Is  in  the  fur-trade 
ith  of  the  St.  Law- 
/  shore  an  infusion 
ng  agriculture  and 
peake  and  by  the 
ite  a  different  type 
nd  German.    They 

ps  took  away  their 


f 

1 


TIIK    I'.\(JKANT  OF   SAINT   LUSSON. 


21 


tobacco.  They  hardly  knew  what  a  town  was.  iind 
there  were  few  among  them  that  lived  by  hnndicrafts; 
but  they  were  good  woodsmen,  and  the  French  had 
more  to  fear  from  them  in  the  near  future  than  from 
any  others.  Governor  Berkeley  had  sent  Lederer  along 
the  Appalachian  slopes,  and  here  and  there  he  had 
climbed  to  a  sunnnit  and  looked  over  into  the  great 
valley  beyond  the  hills ;  but  there  were  very  vague 
notions  of  its  extent.  For  twenty  years  there  had 
been  a  popular  map  circulated  in  England  among  in- 
tending immigrants  to  Virginia,  which  seemed  to  imply 
that  the  Pacific  flowed  wholly  over  what  we  now  know 
as  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  —  so  little  knowledge 
had  the  discoveries  of  the  French  imparted  to  their 
neighbors  across  the  Channel. 

In  the  modern  Carolina  there  was  a  proprietary 
government  jealously  guarding  a  charter  which  carried 
its  western  bounds  to  the  South  Sea,  wherever  it 
might  be.  These  proprietors  had  drawn  to  the  soil  a 
strange  conglomeration  of  spirits  upon  whom  it  was 
desired  to  impress  the  baronial  ideals  of  John  Locke,  — 
dissenters  from  Virginia,  wanderers  from  Barbadoes, 
and  restless  New  Englanders.  This  ill-assorted  people 
were  divided  into  planters,  traders,  and  hunters. 

It  was  a  question,  and  a  serious  one  to  the  French, 
how  long  this  Appalachian  range  would  confine  to  the 
Atlantic  slope  this  attenuated  line  of  English  from 
Massachusetts    Bay   to   Carolina.       There    were   grave 


22 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


apprehensions  at  Quebec  when  Talon  had  organized 
the  expedition  of  Saint  Lusson.  The  Intendant  could 
but  see  that  New  France  was  flanked  on  the  north  by 
the  English  at  Hudson  Bay,  and  (now  that  New  Amster- 
dam had  fallen)  by  the  same  English  on  the  south. 
Nevertheless,  Talon  had  fiiir  ground  to  expect  that 
t)ie  English  .advance  towards  the  west  would  be  de- 
layed so  long  as  commerce  and  agriculture  kept  the 
settlers  busy,  and  so  long  as  the  eastern  slopes  of  the 
mountains  were  broad  enough  to  sustain  their  popula- 
tion. It  was  thus  upon  the  mercantile  thrift  and  farm- 
ing instincts  of  the  English  colonists  that  the  French 
could  best  depend  for  unopposed  occupation  of  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Charlevoix  at  a  later 
day  comprehended  this  exactly.  The  settlers  in  New 
York  had  indeed  succeeded  to  the  Iroquois  alliance 
which  the  Dutch  had  fostered,  and  it  was  certain  that 
in  the  Seneca  country  there  were  small  obstacles  to  their 
entering  the  great  valley,  if  they  should  push  along 
the  affluents  of  the  Ohio ;  but  there  was  as  yet  no  dis- 
position to  such  enterprise. 


It  has  been  said  that  no  one  in  this  little  pioneer 
band  of  the  French  at  the  Sault  understood  the  latent 
force  of  the  English  so  well  as  Dreuillettes,  or  compre- 
hended so  eagerly  what  it  could  accomplish  if  once  it 
broke  the  mountain  barrier.  He  tells  us  how  the  sturdy 
concentration  of  New  England  had  impressed  him  in 
her  sons  who  ploughed  the  land  and  furrowed  the  seas 


THE  PAGEANT  OF   SAINT  LUSSON. 


23 


with  equal  virility.  He  had  contrasted  this  steady 
purpose  with  'he  wild  restlessness  that  shot  the  rapids 
of  the  Canadian  rivers.  The  men  who  took  rum,  cod- 
fish, and  clapboards  across  the  turbulent  waters  to 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  West  Indies,  and  were  bronzed 
in  the  salt  air,  were  the  fathers  of  families.  The  Cana- 
dian voyagcnrs  shunned  the  settlement,  for  fear  that  they 
might  be  compelled  to  marry.  "  Teach  people  their 
duties,"  says  Diogenes  in  Landor,  "  and  they  will  know 
their  interests."  The  Mjissachusetts  town-meeting  gave 
an  inspiration  that  was  absolutely  wanting  in  the  feudal 
seigneuries  of  Montreal  and  Quebec.  Church-member- 
ship as  a  condition  of  freemanship  brought  religion  to 
the  core  of  every-day  life.  The  black-robed  priests  and 
white  nuns  of  New  France  created  a  class.  These  are 
things  which  Dreuillettes  had  seen  and  could  hardly 
have  forgotten,  and  he  may  well  have  asked  himself 
if  these  alien  people  and  their  kindred  were  long  to  be 
hemmed  in  by  the  Appalachians  ?  It  has  often  been 
a  boast  of  the  historians  of  New  France  that  while 
their  pioneers  were  pushing  from  Gaspe  to  the  western 
verge  of  Superior,  the  English  were  content  to  keep 
within  smell  of  tide-water.  But  they  forget  that  it 
is  not  wandering  that  subdues  the  earth.  Carrying 
trinkets  to  the  Indians,  and  taking  his  skins  in  exchange, 
laid  open  the  water-ways,  but  it  did  not  develop  the 
country.  The  Home  Government  of  France  put  strin- 
gent requirements  upon  the  Canadian  settlers  to  keep 
within  the  protection  which  the  palisaded  posts  could 


24 


THE   PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


/- 


extend.  Agriculture  spoiled  the  coiintrv  for  the  beaver 
and  the  musquash,  and  the  well-being  of  the  colony  was 
sacrificed  to  the  gain  of  the  fur-companies.  Champlain 
had  looked  forward  with  apprehension  to  a  policy  which 
discouraged  family  life  and  farmsteads.  The  fact  was, 
that  the  more  extended  New  France  became,  the 
weaker  she  grew.  The  self-centring  of  New  England 
prepared  her  in  due  time  for  that  western  movement 
when  her  tillers  of  the  soil  could  make  habitable  a 
region  that  France  had  only  unfolded  to  geography. 
The  New  England  blood  of  Michigan  tells  the  story 
to-day. 

But  I  have  kept  you  too  long  from  this  significant 
scene  at  the  Sault.  It  was  on  the  morning  of  the 
14th  of  June,  1671,  when  Saint  Lusson  formed  his  lit- 
tle band  of  followers  at  his  camp  beside  the  rapids, 
arrayed  in  what  of  splendor  they  had  brought  into 
the  wilderness,  and  bearing  their  newly  burnished 
arms.  With  their  vestments  cleansed  and  gathered 
about  them,  four  Jesuits  walked  at  the  head  of  the 
line.  They  were  Dablon,  the  spiritual  head  of  these 
distant  missions  ;  AUouez,  wliom  we  have  encountered 
at  Ashland  Bay ;  Andre,  his  companion  ;  and  Dreuil- 
lettes,  whose  conscious  being  we  have  been  trying  to 
lay  bare.  Their  names  stand  still  as  they  wrote  them 
in  official  attestation  on  the  instrument  which  records 
the  proceedings  of  which  they  were  a  part.  With  sol- 
emn step  Saint  Lusson  led  his  compatriots  to  a  little 


THE   PAGEANT  OF   SAINT  LUSSON. 


25 


knoll  neigliboring  to  the  palisade  of  the  Jesuits.  Here 
a  huge  cross  of  wood  had  been  made  ready,  and  lay 
upon  the  ground.  A  vast  throng  of  many-tinted  In- 
dians, which  had  hovered  about  the  little  column  on 
its  way,  spread  over  the  near  ground,  and  formed  a 
ragged  circle  about  the  spot.  Some  of  the  savages 
stood,  with  the  breezes  from  the  Sault  fanning  their 
plumes ;  others  crouched  on  the  soil  as  only  Indians 
can ;  and  here  and  there,  on  little  undulations  of  the 
ground,  the  more  supple  fell  into  picturesque  groups, 
giving  a  better  view  to  those  who  stood  behind.  All 
along  this  dusky  horde,  set  off  with  the  saffron  and 
vermilion  of  the  forest  adornments,  there  was  the  glis- 
tening jet  of  curious  eyes. 

The  Frenchmen  were  grouped  in  the  centre  about 
the  prostrate  cross.  Father  Dablon  stepped  forward, 
and  with  outstretched  arms  sanctified  it  with  a  solemn 
blessing.  At  a  sign  from  Saint  Lusson,  some  stalwart 
shoulders  were  placed  beneath  the  holy  wood,  and  the 
huge  symbol  of  redemption  lifted  its  head  slowly  in 
the  air,  till  its  foot  fell  at  last  into  the  cavity  which 
had  been  made  for  it.  As  the  dull  thud  of  the  im- 
pact fell  on  the  eager  ears,  every  Frenchman's  cap 
was  off.  While  the  earth  was  thrown  about  the  cross, 
their  voices  rose  in  unison  in  that  grand  old  seventh- 
century  hymn,  the  Vexilla  Regis.  A  graver  in  Paris 
had  cut  the  royal  arms  in  conventional  style  on  a 
metal  plate,  and  Colbert  hud  taken  care  that  this 
token  of  possession  was  sent  to  Talon.     By  liim  it  had 


26 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


been  committed  to  Saint  Liisson.  A  cedar  post  had 
been  erected  close  to  the  cross  ;  and  while  this  plate 
was  fastened  to  it,  the  Exandiat  was  chanted,  and  one 
of  the  priests  muttered  a  prayer  for  the  king. 

There  was  a  rustle  among  the  crowding  savages, 
with  eyes  and  ears  bent  still  closer  upon  the  great 
man  before  them  who  represented  the  majesty  of 
France.  Saint  Lusson  walked  conspicuously  to  the 
front,  wita  a  sword  stretched  in  one  hand,  and  a 
crumbling  turf  of  earth  extended  in  the  other.  He 
then  spoke  in  words  something  like  these  :  — 

"In  the  name  of  the  most  high  and  redoubtable 
sovereign,  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  Christian  King  of 
France  and  Navarre,  I  now  take  possession  of  all  these 
lakes,  straits,  rivers,  islands,  and  regions  lying  adja- 
cent thereto,  whether  as  yet  visited  by  my  subjects 
or  unvisited ;  whether  stretching  to  the  sea  at  the 
north  or  at  the  west,  or  on  the  opposite  side  extend- 
ing to  the  South  Sea.  And  I  declare  to  all  the  people 
inhabiting  this  wide  country  that  they  now  become 
my  vassals,  and  must  obey  my  laws  and  customs.  I 
promise  to  protect  them  against  all  enemies.  I  de- 
clare to  all  other  princes  and  potentates  of  whatever 
rank,  and  I  warn  their  subjects,  that  they  are  denied 
forever  seizing  upon  or  settling  within  those  circum- 
jacent seas,  except  it  be  the  pleasure  of  myself  or 
my  viceroys  to  permit  them.  I  declare  that  I  will 
resent  and  punish  any  such  presumption.  Vive  le 
Eon  I  " 


THE   PAGEANT  OF   SAINT   LUSSON. 


27 


The  responsive  shouts  of  the  followers  of  Saint  Lus- 
son  were  drowned  in  the  volleys  of  their  guns  and 
by  the  yelps  of  the  capering  savages. 

As  soon  as  silence  could  be  restored,  Father  Allouez 
stepped  forward  to  address  these  unwitting  vassals  of 
the  woods.  He  told  them  how  important  the  work 
was  in  which  they  had  just  assisted.  He  pointed  to 
the  cross,  and  reminded  them  of  the  story  which  it 
signified,  and  which  he  had  so  often  rehearsed.  He 
pointed  to  the  blazon  of  the  royal  arms,  and  told  them 
that  they  stood  for  the  sovereignty  of  a  great  lord  of 
the  earth,  whose  grandeur  was  as  the  tall  oak  com- 
pared with  the  grass  that  bent  beneath  their  moc- 
casins. He  referred  to  the  great  man  at  Quebec  who 
represented  this  mighty  king,  and  told  them  that  he 
was  but  one  of  this  imperial  master's  ten  thousand 
powerful  captains.  "  I  am  going  on  the  war-path, 
cries  this  mighty  king,  and  every  one  of  these  ten 
thousand  captains,"  shouted  Allouez,  "  starts  off  with 
a  hundred  warriors  in  his  train.  They  may  go  by 
sea,"  said  the  priest  again,  "  ir  such  ships  as  you  have 
seen  at  Quebec,  not  in  canoes  like  yours,  holding  at 
the  most  only  ten  men,  but  in  vessels  that  will  carr\', 
if  need  be,  as  many  thousand.  They  may  go  by 
land  ;  and  it  would  take  a  steadfixst  foot  to  pass  along 
their  ranks  for  more  than  twenty  leagues.  When 
the  earth  trembles,  and  it  thunders,  and  the  air  is 
on  fire,  it  is  our  king  attacking  his  enemies.  The 
blood  of  those  he  kills  flows  in   streams,  and  men  do 


28 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


not  say  how  many  scalps  he  has  taken,  but  how  large 
is  this  river  of  blood.  So  terrible  is  he  that  nations 
no  longer  war  with  him,  but  fall  prostrate  when  he 
looks.     His  word  is  the  law  of  the  world. 

"You  have  .t  few  sacks  of  corn,  a  hatchet  or  two, 
and  call  yourself  rich.  He  possesses  cities  in  number 
beyond  the  members  of  your  tribe,  a  city  for  a  man. 
His  own  palace  is  longer  than  from  here  to  the  top 
of  the  Sault,  and  the  tallest  trees  would  not  reach 
its  roof.  He  has  a  family  in  it  more  numerous  than 
the  people  in  one  of  your  towns." 


In  such  an  atmosphere  of  rhetorical  smoke,  the 
swarthy  savages  grunted  and  wrapped  themselves  in 
amazement.  The  French  had  cast  a  die  that  fore- 
boded they  knew  not  what.  One  at  least  among 
them,  in  his  forecast  of  the  future,  might  have  ven- 
tured a  suspicion  in  accordance  with  the  truth  that  not 
the  race  of  Dablon  and  of  Talon,  but  that  of  Eliot  and 
Bradford,  would  yet  possess  these  magnificent  realms 
of  the  earth. 

One  thing  was  certainly  apparent  at  the  mo- 
ment. The  French  could  not  long  delay  to  try,  at 
least,  to  make  good  the  grandeur  of  their  hopes.  The 
rugged  Frontenac  had  but  just  arrived  at  Quebec,  and 
the  burden  was  his.  The  story  of  the  discovery  of  the 
]\Iississippi  by  Joliet  and  Marquette,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  dwell  upon  further  than  to  say  that  it  made  it 
sure  how  by  the  Wisconsin    or    the  Illinois  one  could 


/> 


HOalB 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


29 


float,  not  to  the  Atlantic  or  the  Pacific,  but  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.     •/ 

Instigated  by  this  success,  and  impclhd  by  a  desire 
to  connect  by  a  great  route  the  two  chief  portals  of 
the  continent,  the  Gulfs  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Mexico, 
La  Salle  entered  upon  his  scheme  of  developing  the 
great  valley.  In  a  few  years  he  succeeded  in  erecting 
his  emblems  of  occupation  on  one  of  the  deltas  at  the 
mouth  of  the  great  river.  It  had  taken  nearly  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  to  complete  the  cordon  since  Car- 
tier  had  raised  his  cross  at  Gaspe.  To  give  something 
like  detail  to  these  claims,  Duluth  had  also  announced 
possession  among  the  Sioux,  and  Hennepin  had  followed 
the  reaches  of  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

Meanwhile  the  English  were  preparing  for  the  in- 
evitable invasion.  They  began  by  treating  with  the 
Iroquois  for  mutual  advantages ;  and  as  those  confed- 
erates drove  their  enemies  along  the  southei  shores 
of  Lake  Erie,  and  even  pushed  them  beyond  Lake  Mich- 
igan, there  were  English  traders  from  Albany  and  the 
East  to  follow  not  far  in  their  rear.  The  confiict  which 
the  French  had  sustained  with  the  Iroquois  along  the 
St.  Lawrence,  they  now  found  they  must  repeat  on  the 
Illinois  and  the  Mississippi. 

Ever  since  La  Salle  had  closed  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Spaniards  by  his  visit  to  the  deltas,  it  had  been 
the  purpose  of  the  French  to  patrol,  as  it  were,  the 
entire  line  of  transit  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Sault,  with 
fortified    posts    at   salient   points ;    and    later   by    con- 


30 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


tinning  this  line  np  the  Ohio,  to  connect  Ontario  and 
the  St.  Lawrence  Gulf  by  a  similar  circuit.  These 
English  incursions  on  the  trail  of  the  Iroquois  were 
but  the  beginning  of  a  counter-movement  on  their 
pr^rt.  The  movement,  however,  found  many  checks. 
Phips  failed  at  Quebec ;  Frontenac  dealt  his  blows 
effectively  along  the  northern  bounds  of  New  England 
and  New  York ;  while  Perrot  took  formal  occupation  of 
the  country  west  of  Superior,  and  Cadillac  seized  the 
straits  at  Detroit  and  defied  any  hostile  inroad  upon 
the  upper  lakes. 

The  treaty  of  Ryswick  in  1697  had  left  France  in 
formal  possession  of  the  great  valley;  but  her  occupa- 
tion was  more  in  name  than  in  power.  The  ice-locked 
channels  of  the  lakes  cut  them  off  from  Quebec  for 
a  large  part  of  the  year,  and  it  was  far  easier  for  the 
settlers  on  the  Illinois  to  drift  toward  the  Gulf  than  for 
cauoe  or  batteau  to  push  up  against  the  current. 

Meanwhile  the  English  and  Scotch  traders  were 
following  the  lateral  valleys  everywhere.  When  the 
French  king  farmed  out  the  Indian  trade  of  the  great 
waterslied  to  Crozat,  his  agents  complained  that  they 
encountered  the  trading  adventurers  from  over  the 
mountains.  These  intruders  went  by  ways  tbit  were 
known  to  them ;  but  Spotswood  of  Virginia  was  not 
behindhand  in  sending  his  rangers  along  the  moun- 
tain summits  to  inspect  the  passes. 

The  question  became  serious  when  by  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht,  in  1713,  the  French  monarch  had  acknowl- 


U 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SAINT  LUSSON. 


31 


1 


cflged  the  subjection   of  the  Iroquois  to  the  English ; 
for   the  Enghsh   interpreted   it   to    mean   that   it  gave 
them  jurisdiction,  not  only  throughout  the  lands  actu- 
ally occupied  by  the  confederacy,  but   that  it  estab- 
lished the  English  rule  over  all  the  regions  west  and 
south,  where  the  Iroquois  warriors  had  driven  its  occu- 
pants.    This  claim  was  made   on    the  plea  that  such 
territory  was  conquered  territory  of  the  Iroquois,  and 
included  in  the  surrender  of  the  confederates.     Shortly 
afterwards  Spotswood  of  Virginia  started  on   a  recon- 
noissance  that  boded  no  good  to  the  French.     He  led 
his  knights  of  the  Golden  Spur  over  the  mountains, 
and  his  merry  company  shouted  and  sang  in  triumph 
on  the  slopes  of  the  Great  Valley.     It  was  the  hindered 
spirit  of  the  Virginians   let  loose,    and   nowhere    else, 
along  the  imposing  barrier  from  the  Catskills  to  north- 
ern Alabama,  was  there  a  path  over  the  passes  so  easy 
and  unentangled  as  this  which  Spotswood  had  found. 
It  was  thus  by  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah  that  the 
songs   and    footfalls    of    rollicking    Virginians    mingled 
with  the  splashes  of   the  upper  affluents    of   the  Ten- 
nessee, and  the  way  was  opened  for  the  coming  occu- 
pation of  the  region  south  of  the  Ohio  by  the  Anglo- 
German  and  Scotch-Irish   pioneers  from   the  valley  of 
Virginia.     The  men  of  New  York  were  not  far  behind. 
They  planted  a  post  at  Oswego,  and  began  to  intercept 
the   traders  from  Quebec.      The   French   attempted    a 
flank  movement  by  establishing  posts  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain  and  at  Niagara ;  but  the  purpose  of  the  English 


1! 


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32 


THE   PAGEANT  OF  SAINT   LUSSON. 


was  steady.  By  treaty  after  treaty  they  acquired 
more  and  more  what  it  served  their  purpose  to  call 
the  rights  of  the  Iroquois.  This  paper  conquest  was 
as  good  as  completed  in  the  treaty  signed  in  1744  at 
Lancaster  in  Pennsylvania.  More  active  aggressions 
followed.  All  along  the  Ohio  the  cabin  of  the  English 
trader  Haunted  the  British  flag ;  and  the  conflict  could 
not  long  be  put  off  when  the  Ohio  Company,  in  1750, 
received  its  ample  grants,  throughout  a  region  where 
a  French  emissary  from  Quebec  had  here  and  there 
buried  his  engraved  plates,  setting  forth  the  claims  of 
his  royal  master.  Celoron  tells  us  that  he  crossed  from 
Lake  Erie  by  the  Chautauqua  portage,  and  following 
down  the  streams,  he  found  that  the  English  packman 
was  everywhere  in  advance. 

The  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  17,48,  was  but  a 
pretence  of  peace.  Both  sides  were  given  time  under 
it  to  prepare  for  the  struggle.  It  was  not  long  be- 
fore Charles  Townshend  in  the  English  Parliament 
was  crying  that  the  time  had  come.  Virginia  took 
the  first  warlike  step  in  sending  a  party  to  build  a 
fort  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  just  at  a  time  when 
France  gave  her  last  pledge  along  the  Mississippi  in 
the  reconstruction  of  Fort  Chartres. 

Events  had  now  begun  to  move  rapidly,  and  it  fell 
to  Washington's  share  to  fire  the  first  shot  in  the  long 
war  which  reached  a  decision  on  the  Plains  of  Abra- 
ham ;  and  within  two  years  more  the  lily  flag  had 
come  down   at   Detroit   and    Mackinac.     The  Appala- 


/ 


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TIIK    PAGKANT   OF  SAINT   LUSSOX. 


38 


/ 


cliians  liiid  disappeared  more  completely  than  the 
Pyrenees  in  the  vision  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth.  It 
had  taken  ninetv  vears  from  the  time  when  Saint 
Lusson  threw  down  the   <:;ay;e.   tor  the  meteor  tlay;  to 

DO  O 

reach  the  Sault.  Dreuillettes,  an  old  man  of  eighty- 
eight,  had  fallen  into  his  grave  at  Quebec  long  before 
the  time  when  English  courage   and  constancy,  which 

O  CD  ^ 

he  had  so  long  ago  recognized,  thus  reached  its  natu- 
ral goal.  The  negotiations  for  a  confirmed  peace  at 
Paris  in  1763  were  hardly  less  cardinal  than  the  de- 
teat  of  Montcalm  at  Quebec. 

It  may  excite  a  smile  to-day  that  Canada  should  be 
weighed  in  the  balance  against  Guadeloupe  :  but  the 
decision  as  to  which  of  the  two  dependencic  s  France 
should  be  permitted  to  retain,  was  long  delayed.  The 
English  press  teemed  with  pamphlets  in  advocacy  of 
one  or  the  other ;  and  not  the  least  effective  of  them 
was  one  by  Franklin,  urging  the  retention  of  Canada 
as  the  only  security  for  a  peaceful  future.  The  argu- 
ment for  Guadeloupe  was  not  without  wisdom  in  the 
liirht  of  comint»:  events.  If  the  standing  menace  oi 
Frenchmen  on  their  borders  should  be  removed,  it 
was  held  that  the  English  colonists  would  have  oppor- 
tunities to  develop  independence  of  the  mother-country. 
But  that  future  does  not  concern  us  now,  while  we 
ask :  To  Avliat  condition  had  New  France  been  re- 
duced? She  had  already  secretly  anticipated  the  inevi- 
table, and  yielded  everything  beyond  the  Mississippi 
to   Spain  ;    and   of   all    the    vast   domain,    bounded   by 

5 


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THE  PAGEANT  OF  HAINT   LUSSON. 


tlio  circumjacent  oceans,  which  she  had  proudly 
claimed  at  the  Sault  ninety-two  years  before,  noth- 
iuir  was  left  but  two  little  islands  on  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland,  piteously  awarded  to  her  as  fishing 
stations  to  secure  her  food  on  the  fast-days  of  her 
religion.  New  France,  an  empire  without  a  nation, 
had  disappeared. 


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